La Haine

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La Haine

1995

1h 38m

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

96%

Tomatometer

74 Reviews

95%

Popcornmeter

25,000+ Ratings

When a young Arab is arrested and beaten unconscious by police, a riot erupts in the notoriously violent suburbs outside of Paris. Three of the victim's peers, Vinz (Vincent Cassel), Said (Said Taghmaoui) and Hubert (Hubert Koundé), wander aimlessly about their home turf in the aftermath of the violence as they try to come to grips with their outrage over the brutal incident. After one of the men finds a police officer's discarded weapon, their night seems poised to take a bleak turn.

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Critics Consensus

Hard-hitting and breathtakingly effective, La Haine takes an uncompromising look at long-festering social and economic divisions affecting 1990s Paris.

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Jonathan Rosenbaum

Chicago Reader

07/20/2023

Though some of this might seem a bit old to Americans, Kassovitz has some things of his own to say -- and he says them with nuance, feeling, and authority.

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Kevin Thomas

Los Angeles Times

07/20/2023

As for Kassovitz, his own go-for-broke visual bravura and highly charged storytelling are so American in feel that the news that he plans his Hollywood seems inevitable.

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Alan Morrison

Empire Magazine

07/20/2023

5/5

Stark, exquisite black-and-white photography drains what little cheer there is out of the concrete jungle, creating an alien cityscape devoid of sunshine. But Mathieu Kassovitz's triumph is in finding humanity in every single one of his characters.

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Éabha Leech

Film Ireland Magazine

Apr 17

La Haine’s powerful warning of how “hatred breeds hatred” establishes a hopeless cycle of violence and devastation, which is shockingly confirmed in the final scene of the film.

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Michael Wood

London Review of Books

05/06/2025

Great movies can be too steady, too serene, and this film is headed in a different direction.

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Aaron Neuwirth

Why So Blu

05/01/2024

4.5/5

Watching it now, there’s still a great sense of the sort of power this film can have on display, even if it’s somewhat depressing to know Kassovitz could easily make this movie now and not have to really change anything.

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A R

@SKOLPRANO 4d

Amazing movie. Speaks on issues we deal with even till this day. Amazing ride and a hell of a finish!

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Mate P

@matepolcz Jun 26

La Haine transports the audience to a world they hopefully aren't familiar with. It was weird coming out of the theater into a peaceful and colorful city. The characters are interesting and weirdly likeable at times, especially Hubert, who's the heart or the film (if there is one). The first ten minutes tell you exactly the kind of movie that this is going to be and the last 85 minutes deliver on that promise. So not much was surprising, except for the ending, but not much was intended to be. Overall, the film was much more comedic than I imagined and I loved that. The directing is great as I said. The cinematography is insane. This felt like the most colorful black & white film I've ever seen. The lighting, the camera movements, just absolute cinema. Some of the transitions are fire. The soundtrack is awesome, the cast is great. I love that they chose 3 very different actors for the main roles, because with black & white I can't always tell who is who, but here that wasn't an issue.

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Jay W

@RT52162311 May 27

Enough Saïd: This film is very unconventional. Typically, in a story the writers will do something to make the protagonists of the story endearing in some way. In this film, they make the bold strategy to make the main characters unapologetic criminals and dirtbags. Vinz is a man who has made owning a gun, his entire personality. With 3 jerky guys as the leads, it can be difficult to become invested in their struggles, a lot of them feeling self-inflicted. But to the movie's credit, the conversations between these characters felt very natural and unscripted. The camera work was beautiful despite its modest budget. And it has the best break dancing I have ever seen.

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Maarit L

@Komedienne May 27

Great acting and interesting storytelling.

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Alberto N

@RT31280222 Apr 28

Great movie, with a really good cast. It describes very well the context. The end is absolute cinema

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Adam J.

@AdamJackson Feb 20

One of the classics that gets overlooked.

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Mathieu Kassovitz

Director

Vincent Cassel

Vinz

Hubert Koundé

Hubert

Said Taghmaoui

Saïd

Abdel Ahmed Ghili

Abdel

Joseph Momo

Ordinary Guy

Jude

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Synopsis

When a young Arab is arrested and beaten unconscious by police, a riot erupts in the notoriously violent suburbs outside of Paris. Three of the victim's peers, Vinz (Vincent Cassel), Said (Said Taghmaoui) and Hubert (Hubert Koundé), wander aimlessly about their home turf in the aftermath of the violence as they try to come to grips with their outrage over the brutal incident. After one of the men finds a police officer's discarded weapon, their night seems poised to take a bleak turn.

Director: Mathieu Kassovitz
Producer: Christophe Rossignon
Screenwriter: Mathieu Kassovitz
Distributor: Gramercy Pictures
Production Co: Les Productions Lazennec, Canal+, Kasso Inc. Productions, Egg Pictures, PolyGram Filmed Entertainment
Genre: Drama
Original Language: French (France)
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 1, 1995, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 23, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $130.3K
Runtime: 1h 38m
Sound Mix: Surround, Stereo